SteelSeries QcK Heavy Review

SteelSeries QcK Heavy Review

When it comes to competitive gaming gear people often like to talk about which mouse they should use, which headset offers the best value for money, and so on.

Not a lot of people seem to be talking about which mousepad you should choose, which is a shame. It might not be the most important part of your setup, but there are definitely big differences between the various types of pad, not only in appearance but also in performance and feel.

The Steelseries QcK line has been a steady performer in the world of mousepads, with it being both widely available and offered at a reasonable price, so it’s no wonder that this pad is one of the more popular ones out there and the next pad to be featured on our list of popular gaming mousepad reviews.

Finding a mousepad that suits you and your playstyle can really enhance your overall gaming experience.

Steelseries QcK Heavy First Impressions

The Steelseries QcK Heavy is definitely that; heavy. That’s due to the fact that it’s a very thick mousepad. It’s around 6 mm thick (0.23 inch) and it’s made that way to ensure that you don’t feel any imperfections in the surface you decide to put it on, which can be an issue with thinner mousepads.

Due to the overall size and weight of the QcK Heavy it lays flat on your desk almost immediately after unpacking it (it comes packaged in a rolled up fashion), which is definitely nice if you want to use it instantly. The pad obviously won’t cover up any gaping holes in your desk, but due to its thickness it does indeed cover up minor imperfections rather well, making it a good choice for players who travel to lans often or play on shoddy surfaces.

A weird quirk with this pad is that it has a rather defined smell to it. After unpacking it the pad will definitely fill a small room with the smell of the materials that were used for a couple of days. That’s solved by leaving it to air out for a bit or by simply not caring about the smell, but it’s definitely weird for a mousepad to elicit ‘what’s that smell?’ responses from people who quickly entered the room.

SPECS:

No stitched edges

Medium – fast glide

Length: 44.5 cm / 17.5 in

Height: 39.7 cm / 15.6 in

Thickness: 6 mm

Performance

The QcK Heavy is a large mousepad, so people who play on low sensitivity will find plenty of real estate to execute their large sweeps. The pad itself is finished with a white Steelseries logo in the bottom left corner, but is left completely black otherwise. The logo didn’t interfere with the tracking as far as my testing goes (I tested with a variety of different sensors and mice) so should you find yourself frolicking about at the edge of your mousepad in the heat of the battle you won’t see any issues.

The QcK Heavy has a rubber base in order to make it stick to the surface it’s placed on. I’ve been using the Heavy on and off for months now and I’ve yet to catch it slipping even a bit, even though I play on a rather low sensitivity and do some rather aggressive flicking from time to time.

The pad sadly itself isn’t finished with stitched edges, which gives it a less premium look than its stitched counterparts, and the edges have started fraying a little bit, though it’s definitely nothing too bad.

The QcK Heavy has a rather tight texture, resulting in a smooth and medium (to fast, for a cloth pad) glide. It doesn’t have the most stopping power as a result, so if you have a tendency to overshoot you might want to think twice about buying this certain pad.

A very small downside of choosing a pad this large is that it’s going to take a while to completely dry off if you decide to wash it (which you should, every once in a while) but that just comes with the nature of the product.

The QcK Heavy's texture in a closeup

Conclusion & Recommendation

The QcK Heavy is a great pad for users who want to have plenty of real estate to move their mouse around.

It’s built like a tank and offers a very smooth, medium-fast gliding experience. It might not be to everyone’s taste due to the thickness of it, but if you can get past that (and the smell during the first few days) the QcK Heavy is definitely a very good and reliable pad which can easily be used as a LAN pad on its own as well.

If you like to have your pad ‘rein you in’ a bit you should be wary though, as there isn’t a whole lot of stopping speed to the QcK Heavy.

I can’t confidently say how fast it is compared to that one since I haven’t yet gotten the chance to fully test the Goliathus Speed, though from my limited exposure to it I think I can say that the Goliathus Speed is a bit faster.

I ‘ve been using the Goliathus Speed for 3 years and recently just switched over to the QCK Heavy. My Goliathus has definetly worn down after 3 years of use and comparing it with the QCK Heavy right out of the box, the QCK Heavy has a only slightly faster glide. But if you compare it to a new Goliathus Speed, the Goliathus would problably have much more glide than the QCK

Yeah these pads are all pretty similar to each other as far as glide goes, though I personally find that the Goliathus has more of a control element to the glide. Your experience may vary though, as these things are influenced a lot by factors such as dust and humidity, certainly when the glides are so similar.

Most pros use the Zowie G-SR, which is a very control oriented mousepad. If you want something a bit speedier you can always try the QcK line, while something like the Razer Gigantus is a bit of an inbetweener. Also make sure to check out our review section for more mousepad reviews: https://prosettings.net/review/

I haven’t personally tested the Logitech G640 but you should note that the G-SR is a very controlling pad. That’s not a bad thing at all, but it is an acquired taste, so if you like pads with a lot of control I’d say go for the G-SR.

Hi i need to know a mousepad with control other than zowie gsr like is the hyper x fury normal one control and the steelseries heavy qck. I have a glorious now md it has like No control like My mouse glides way to much so i was thinking bout hyperx normal one or QcK Heavy xxl cuz i need control amd the zowie gsr is too small for me plz help me ?!:)

Complete fucking garbage that wont stay playable for more than a month. You will get small bumps almost instantly so all the smoothness just disappears.
Will never waste a penny on this shit again.
Buy a Zowie G-SR instead.

That’s unfortunate that you had that experience. Can’t say that I had the same issue as you did. The Zowie G-SR is a much more controlling pad than the QcK Heavy though, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for people who want to get the same-ish glide feeling.

Funny thing is, you say it dont have the most stopping power, or the most control. But personally I feel like it has that(idk maybe it is the amount of friction it produces?) But I do also refer to when it is a little worn in. When it is brand new it feels pretty fast, but after a few weeks that feel is gone imo.

I just got the glorious 3XL that I read reviews, saying it is one of the best balanced in terms of speed & control. Veil it do look and feel a lot like the qck, the glorious to me, feels faster than my qck, and I feel like so far, that Im more inconsistent. Idk this might just be that it is brand new and me getting used to the slighty different feel, and might change when the pad has been worn in some. But I also read a lot that it is much better at not getting worn out. It last longer. Idk if that is for me. I seem to have gotten way to used to the worn out feel of a qck.

Well as I usually say when people ask about these sorts of things: the glide of these pads is really similar most of the time. With the exception of pads like the G-SR (which is a very controlling pad) and so on most cloth mousepads are pretty similar. Things like wear, cleanliness and even the climate (humidity etc.) can also greatly affect the feel. If I use a QcK+ in Finland it probably feels a lot different to one in Brazil or something.

That said: I really like the 3XL, but it’s obviously a matter of personal tastes whether or not you’ll come to like it.

I have problem with GSR zowie , sometime glide is fast sometime slow so i cant get used to that pad, and u mentonied in some coment that GSR has that problem. So im using that pad about 7,8 months and sometime i feel i cant get consistency… What about qck heavy would i have better experience ?

Might be a silly question, but have you washed the pad already? The G-SR should be pretty consistent (though on the slower side) if you wash it every so often. That said, the QcK is faster and required a little less maintenance in my opinion, so if you’re after that it’s a good option.

No i didnt wash it, but i clean it every day with wet wipes. It feel someday slow someday faster. I mean if i get QcK heavy, it need less cleaning? and i want to feel same glide everyday, after some months using gsr feel sticky…

I don’t know if cleaning it every day with wet wipes is ideal to be honest. You shouldn’t be having to clean a mousepad that often, though if it works for you that’s obviously fine. In any case; every pad will need cleaning every once in a while, though the QcK Heavy is pretty low maintenance.

PROSETTINGS pls help i got QCK heavy , when i open it out of box for next 5 days mousepad was so good , smooth and rly good. After 7 days of usage its started to be sticky almost unplayable i mean it bother me so much and make me nervous , can someone confirm that problem or is jsut qck is like that after sometime of usage . PLS HELP and THANKS

Are you by any chance playing in a humid environment? This can greatly affect the feeling of a pad. If you’re sure you or someone else hasn’t spilled anything on the pad I’d give it a wash (https://on-winning.com/how-to-clean-your-mousepad/) and see if it gets better after that. Pads do wear down after some time but you shouldn’t feel any major differences after only seven days.

They’re very similar so it will probably depend on things like humidity and cleanliness but I have the feeling that the QcK is a tiny bit faster. A similar common pad to the QcK would be the HyperX Fury S in my opinion.

Technically it isn’t since it’s the same surface material but due to the thickness it can feel slower because mouse feet can ‘dig into’ the surface a bit more easily on such a thick pad, so if you’re someone who puts a lot of pressure on their mouse or your mouse has tiny feet it can certainly feel a bit slower.